The one where Bee calls me a walking brand awareness strategy

My office buddy Paul sneezed this morning.

“Tissue?” I said, proffering a box. “They’re Kleenex!”

He laughed. “I want to show you something,” he said, “that makes me think of you.”

He showed me this:

I laughed a lot. 

I put it on Twitter and Bee laughed too. 

Also though, I thought it would be a good moment to have a little word about sponsorship. I make my living from my blog, I make no secret of that, and so sometimes I work with brands who want to pay me to talk about them and help them spread the word about a particular product or service, just like they might do in a magazine or newspaper or TV ad.

What I hope though that you also realise is that I turn down all sorts of things because I don’t like the product, or don’t agree with the brand’s ethos, or don’t think it’s relevant to you or because it’s just a LOG THAT SOMEONE HAS FOUND ON THE FLOOR. Whenever I do talk about a brand or a product, it’s because I actually like it, and think you might be interested too. I’m always honest – I won’t tell you something is worth looking at if I think it’s actually a bit shit.

That’s all.

Oh, and my trousers today are from Asda. 

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9 Comments

  1. 8 April, 2016 / 11:19 am

    Sponsorship and authentic voice aren’t mutually exclusive but it can be difficult to get that across sometimes. A helpful and funny reminder. :)

  2. 8 April, 2016 / 3:44 pm

    haha! This is one of my all-time favourite movie clips. I think it’s an interesting one, though, because people don’t get a bee in their bonnet about sponsorship on other media. Take Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway for example, their win the ads competition is entirely funded/created by advertising. I’ve never once heard anyone moan about it! Yet bloggers get it in the neck a lot. I think as long as we are up front and clear about any posts or social media mentions that have been paid for, and we only promote brands we like, there shouldn’t be a problem,

    • Jo Middleton
      Author
      11 April, 2016 / 9:31 am

      You’re totally right Alison. Pick up a glossy magazine and it’s pages and pages of ads, but everyone accepts that that’s how the magazine pays for itself. At least as bloggers we try to integrate that content a bit, and make it interesting to read.

  3. 8 April, 2016 / 5:41 pm

    Bee is right

    You are…

    I look forward to reading about your next motor home experience

    • Jo Middleton
      Author
      11 April, 2016 / 9:31 am

      You know you secretly love caravans Jon :-)

  4. 8 April, 2016 / 8:19 pm

    I watched Wayne’s World recently and that part of the film made me laugh. Interesting post. I hope you have a great weekend. x

  5. 9 April, 2016 / 1:35 pm

    I only work or endorse go landed I’m happy to work with ie ones that I use myself

  6. 12 April, 2016 / 10:12 am

    Haha – I worry about how this comes across a lot when I do promote brands etc on my blog but I think it’s because people who aren’t bloggers haven’t seen the evolution of blogging from the early 2000’s (where it was largely journalling) to now where it’s more about influencing. It’s tricky! x

    • Jo Middleton
      Author
      12 April, 2016 / 11:18 am

      It is hard Mel. I think all you can really do is be yourself – do whatever feels okay to you, and go with that. There are other non-brand things that I see – like mums being really mean about their kids – where I think ‘Argh!! I would never do that!’, but for some people that’s okay. So long as you’re happy, you can’t do much else.

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